Dubai – England captain Eoin Morgan has once again stressed that his team's culture is built on inclusivity and diversity.
English cricket has been rocked to its core with recent revelations related to alleged racist behaviour at Yorkshire County Cricket Club having unprecedented ramifications. The Yorkshire CCC has already lost a host of sponsors, while Headingley being stripped of its right to host any international cricket in the near future.
The England cricket team have, though, long been a beacon of racial inclusivity under Morgan's leadership with the Irish-born captain famously saying after the tense 2019 World Cup final victory at Lord's "that even Allah was on our side"
Morgan once again went out on a limb to state that his team does not tolerate any form of discrimination.
"First and foremost for probably more so the last two to three years, our culture has been built around inclusivity and diversity. It's actually been quite a strong part of our game," he said.
"For that period of time in particular, we've been active about talking and actioning things that show meaningful change. We're very serious about it.
"We firmly believe that there is no place in our sport for any type of discrimination. From our point of view as a team, we can only do so much in role modeling what we believe is right, because yes, we talk about it, but equally we want to do things that make a difference.
"I believe that we've made huge strides forward as a group in doing that in various parts of our game, and we've found things that are not only, I suppose, pushing things forward, taking the cart forward, but also feel very authentic to individuals and where they've come from and the journeys that they've been on."
Morgan also expects a tough challenge against the Proteas on Saturday in Sharjah, despite having the upperhand over Temba Bavuma's team in recent times.
"I think they're a dangerous side. I think when you look at them from a squad point of view, they have, I suppose, everything at their disposal that you need at a World Cup like this where wickets are potentially getting slower and lower throughout the tournament. So it's a matter of finding, I suppose, what works for them given conditions," Morgan said.
IOL Sport